The Lane Rental Scheme in an Elaborated Manner with the Inclusion of its Implicit and Explicit Objectives - Term Paper Example

Choose Transport Policy/Scheme of Your Own with Significant Transport Content and Addressing Transport Objectives Table of Contents Introduction 3 Brief Overview of Lane Rental Scheme of the UK 4 Objective of the Lane Rental Scheme 5 Explicit and Implicit Policy Objective 5 Implementation of the Policy 6 Impact Analysis of the Implementation of the Scheme 10 Critical Analysis of the Lesson Learnt 14 Conclusions and Recommendations 15 References 17 Bibliography 22 Introduction Transportation is one of the essential facets of communication in the 21st century context today. It holds considerable significance, in almost every field of the society, often acting as the primary need for its economic development and thereby, ensuring the overall public health. With the virtue of globalisation, transportation has emerged as integral parts to the daily lives of people within the society (Midgley, 2011; Marsden & et. al., 2010). As transportation facilitates mobility of goods, contributing positively towards business growth, employment opportunities are also encouraged within the society, paving broader scope to economic stability and development. Mobility of people and products has also resulted in economic and social unity, which can also be regarded as a major contribution of transportation (European Commission, 2010). Emphasising its significance in the present society, governing and controlling transportation sector has also become imperative. Thus, governments have emerged with plans and policies on a periodic basis for the welfare of the people and the overall sector altogether in a comprehensive manner. Based on this notion, the study emphasises the UK transport policies to promote the welfare of the people and the sector altogether (Craine & Masonm 2006). To be mentioned, London Regional Transport is held responsible for controlling the transport network of the UK. Accordingly, the lane rental scheme enacted in the UK is one of those policies developed to ensure proper flow in the operations of the overall transport sector (Pidgeon, 2011). With due consideration to these facts, this particular essay will intend to discuss about the lane rental scheme in an elaborated manner with the inclusion of its implicit and explicit objectives along with the process of its implementation within the transportation sector of the country. The paper will also discuss about the impacts of the policy, post implementation within the sector. Brief Overview of Lane Rental Scheme of the UK Policies relevant to transport are primarily meant for the welfare of the community and the transportation sector altogether. Transport policies of government thus primarily intend to encourage people to make efficient use of public conveyance (Maile & Griffiths, 2014; Ieromonachou & et. al., 2004). Contextually, the policy of lane rental scheme would be vital to consider ensuring a better understanding about the prominence of such policies for the people and the transport sector altogether. The lane rental scheme has been applicable from 2012, enacted by the local authority, i.e. Transport for London (TFL). This policy has been concentrated towards ensuring that highways are free from any type of obstruction during its operations. The concerned authorities have also been focused to execute this particular planning with the help of private and public sector companies in collaboration (UK Power Networks, 2012). The companies thus included the operators working towards projects involved in improving the roadways of the country (Hancock & Nuttman, 2014). As per the policy or the scheme, the contractors working in highways and lanes during busy traffic hours will be liable for additional charges, in order to encourage them to manage the time efficiency of the projects in a more competitive manner. Such an approach taken by the concerned authorities within the lane rental scheme is expected to result in faster movement of the traffic during busy days (Department for Transport, 2012). Objective of the Lane Rental Scheme There are certain key objectives intended with the assistance of the lane rental scheme in the UK. As per the scheme, all the promoters working for the development of roadways throughout the nation will be treated equally and transparency to maintain quality along with resource efficiency. The scheme is also expected to initiate a change in the behaviour of the promoters and encourage them to minimize the amount of time taken while completing a construction process in busiest roads and during highly sensitive times. The objective of this particular scheme initiated by the concerned authorities also includes reducing the number of work projects in busy roads in the UK during sensitive traffic hours. It is expected that the approach will further ensure reliability in the journey hours of people, as per the aim of the transport authority of the country (Transport for London, n.d.). Contextually, the lane rental scheme was created by the Transport for London Authority and has been in practice since the year 2012. The lane rental scheme falls under the legal norms of the Traffic Management Act (TMA) and the Transport Act 2000. The charges of the rental are set mainly based on the prolonged working hours of the companies on the highways (Transport for London, 2012). Explicit and Implicit Policy Objective The objective of the scheme or the policy was quite apparent, with its aims firmly highlighted. Notably, one of the most explicit objectives of the scheme is to develop a better management framework and assist the authorities in constructing the road network, which will in turn minimize the level of inconveniences as well as disruptions for its users (Santos & et. al., 2010). Another explicit objective of the scheme was to take greater control over the activities taking place in the streets of the UK. Since charges are levied on the activities of companies and other bodies on the roads, they are further encouraged to conduct their work more efficiently as well as quickly without harming the interests of the road users. This particular fact illustrates that removal of unnecessary disruptions and inconveniences from streets of the UK is a primary objective of the lane rental policy (IBHF, 2011). There are also implicit objectives of the policy, which must be apparently discussed within this milieu. Notably, the scheme will expectedly enable projects conducted on roads and highways to be completed as quickly as possible. The scheme also intends to encourage companies and authorities that work in busy roads and highways to properly coordinate and plan their projects yielding positive results in minimum time. Encouraging the completion of the projects conducted on roads as per the specified time is another implicit objective of the lane rental scheme of the UK (Kent County Council, 2014). Implementation of the Policy Implementation of any particular policy is quite vital, wherein the effectiveness of the same can only be judged or analyzed on the basis of efficient planning put into practical practice. This particular factor is also relevant to the policy of lane rental scheme. Although the policy promises to be beneficial for the UK society, its effectiveness can only be affirmed after reviewing the results of its implementation (BBC, 2014). The policy is deemed applicable throughout the UK, being implemented from the year 2012. The highway authorities are herewith responsible to look after the entire implementation process of the policy within the nation. The overall implementation process of the policy can be comprehended from its practical use in the Kent region of the UK. Maps of some of the areas of Kent where the lane rental scheme was incorporate are provided hereunder. Fig. 1: Map of Ashford Kent Fig. 2: Map of Canterbury Kent Prior to the implementation of the scheme, several factors were taken into consideration by the concerned authorities. These components include a need to change the road network of the targeted region for the scheme, changing the priority of the companies in busy roads and ensuring the use of high-class technology to minimize the time taken while completing any particular activity. Initially, a map was developed by the concerned authorities to depict the areas in which the scheme will be applied and likewise, scheduling changes under the scheme were decided upon as felt necessary (TFL, 2014). In the next stage of the implementation process, the cost of implementing the scheme had been comprehended (TFL, n.d.). In subsequence, a provisional advance authorization was acquired from the local transport authority prior to implementing all the planned activities in the particular regional context. This particular aspect can also be identified with reference to the implementation of the scheme in Kent region of the UK (Transport for London, 2012). In the subsequent stages of its implementation process, charges for the companies were formulated. Contextually, for the implementation of the policy in Kent, charges were observed as differing based on the bands, roads and lanes along with their structures, which can be observed from the tabular representation below. Table 1: Road Development Charges for Companies under Lane Rental Scheme (Kent County Council, 2014) However, as the scheme applied, any charges will not be applicable to projects that are conducted in non-traffic zones during the holidays. The next stage of the implementation process emphasises conducting the review as well as evaluation of the impact post implementation of the scheme (Kent County Council, 2014). Accordingly, maintaining parity with the standards of the scheme, in the case of Kent, the charges were not applied to the areas excluding the critical or the busiest places of the region. The problems faced while implementing the policy in Kent were mainly identified in the domain of maintaining an economic equilibrium in charges applied to the road projects. The problems were tackled by developing the rent charges based on the importance of the location for daily public use, in which, road projects were initiated by companies. However, there were no changes made in the overall policy or its objectives while being implemented in Kent (Crown, 2012). Impact Analysis of the Implementation of the Scheme Implementation of the scheme in numerous regions within Kent has depicted both positive and negative impacts. Notably, Prud’homme & Bocarejo (2005) reveals that the notion of road congestion charges in the UK is quite a long drawn concept. It was developed first in the year 1960 and later again in the year 2003. However, its application was limited within Central London (Prud’homme & Bocarejo, 2005). The implementation of the lane rental scheme in Kent and other regions of the UK in the year 2012 were performed in a systematic and elaborative manner, which resulted in unignorable subsequent impacts. Illustratively, a significant change in the behaviour was depicted in Kent within 6 months after the implementation of the scheme. Consequently, average repair projects in the region of Kent declined from 5 days to 3 days after the implementation of the rental scheme. In addition, after the charged were levied as per the scheme, contractors began delivering greater efforts to complete the projects assigned in lesser time and greater efficiency in resource management, rectifying errors identified in the prior scenario (Kent County Council, 2013). As can be observed, figure 3 below suggests that prior to the implementation of the lane rental scheme, around 56% of the work of road development was conducted during peak traffic hours through road or lane closure while after the implementation of the lane rental scheme the figure has reduced to 46% in just within 6 months. Again, it can be seen in figure 4 that prior to the implementation of the rental scheme, only 2% of the minor roads work were conducted after traffic hours while after the implementation of the scheme, the figure rose to 6%. This depicts positive impact of the lane rental scheme (Kent County Council, 2013). Fig. 3: Difference in Standard Work Distribution in Kent Pre and Post Lane Rental Scheme (Kent County Council, 2013) Fig. 4: Difference in Minor Work Distribution in Kent Pre and Post Lane Rental Scheme (Kent County Council, 2013) In this regard, it can be affirmed that the scheme has been able to motivate contractors to work efficiently in ensuring leisure travel for people within the community, owing to lesser disruptions in their construction projects. Contextually, Holden & Linnerud (2011) affirmed that elimination of troublesome leisure travel is certainly a positive factor towards the growth and sustainability of the transportation sector in the long run. Again, after the implementation of the policy, innovative ideas in the operations of the companies involved in road development projects were witnessed as integral to the scheme. It is owing to this particular factor that Core and Vac machine was introduced in the road construction projects of Kent, while implementing the lane rental scheme, as can be observed from figure 5 hereunder (Kent County Council, 2013). In this context, it has been observed that innovation in the technical domain yields certain results in better work efficacy and completion of the same in less possible time period (Fricke & Totterdill, 2004). Fig. 5: Innovation in Road Works in Kent (Kent County Council, 2013) Evidently, the implementation of the policy has ensured positive results for the people of the community along with the transport authorities functioning in the UK (Elsevier, 2012). This can be comprehended from the revenue acquired by the transport department post implementation of the policy, which is quite higher than the revenue yielded prior. The statistics for the revenue earned is provided in detail hereunder in figure 6. Notably, actual revenue collected from road development work over the first six months of its implementation in Kent has been on a rising trend, which again depicts monetary benefits for the concerned authorities. However, in the subsequent month the figure showed a considerable decline, which depicts that companies have initiated to plan their work during less traffic hours to avoid disruption for the people. This also depicts a positive behavioural change amid the companies. Fig. 6: Revenue Analysis of Lane Rental Project in Kent (Kent County Council, 2013) For the public, the road networks have become more efficient with less number of disruptions owing to road development projects. However, the road development companies have been negatively influenced since they need to pay a hefty amount to the transport authorities for each of their projects in busy roads of Kent (Kent County Council, 2013). This particular factor can be considered as a major weakness for the scheme, as it generates cost related challenges for the contractors, which may further lead to increased cost of road construction. Critical Analysis of the Lesson Learnt The primary objective of the lane rental policy focused on reducing the time taken by road development companies when conducting projects in busy roads and high traffic zone, causing inconveniences to the public. The policy also intended to encourage the companies to emerge with innovative ideas that can ensure the completion of the projects consistently without causing disruptions for the people who travel via road networks. The policy also aimed at promoting coordination and planning effectiveness amid the companies who work towards road development, so that the projects are conducted with utmost efficacy. In order to attain efficiency in terms of time and resource management, contractors have also begun to use upgraded machineries and technical equipments in their operations, encouraging innovation within the sector. Post implementation of the scheme, contractors have also been observed as highly emphasising transparency as well as effectiveness at every level of project management process. This particular fact can be better illustrated with reference to the policy implementation process and impact witnessed in Kent, wherein the number of standard days for road development was reduced by 2 days for every project, as compared to the prior instances. In this regard, the viewpoint of the Mayor of London Mr. Boris Johnson would be vital for consideration. Johnson believes that lane rental scheme is one of the landmark policy measures adopted in the domain of transport within the UK. It is owing to the fact that with the implementation of the policy, 92% of the projects relevant to road development were successfully completed within the specified deadline, which was once considered impossible prior to the implementation of the scheme. It is also believed that owing to the implementation of the policy, around 2,700 days of disruption could be saved in London and other parts of the UK, which has again been a considerable achievement (Ace, n.d.). Conclusions and Recommendations From the overall analysis of the paper, it can be comprehended that transport policies have a major role to play towards promoting the welfare of the overall sector as well as the convenience of the people using the road network to suffice their regular needs. Contextually, this essay provided a thorough discussion with regard to the Lane rental scheme, as implemented in the UK. The scheme is formulated specifically for the companies involved with road development projects. The scheme ought to encourage these companies to enhance the aspect of time efficacy in their operations by levying monetary charges on the amount of time they occupy or block a particular road when implementing construction projects. Notably, the implementation of the policy has both positive and negative impacts on the stakeholders associated with such projects. While on one hand, positively influencing the efficiency of the project implementation process, the scheme has encouraged innovation, resource management efficiency and quality appraisal within the sector, on the other, it has also increased the risks of higher construction costs. Hence, as argued in Gossling (2013), such policies, even though possesses certain negative impacts for a particular section of the stakeholders associated with road construction projects, impose long term benefits of the overall transportation sector and the society at large. References Ace, No Date. London Mayor Hails Lane Rental Scheme. Home. 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